My name is Charlie, but if your looking for my work, I go by C. E. Dorsett. I write scifi, fantasy, and a touch of horror. I like to play with gothic, steampunk, decopunk, epic fantasy, and wuxia. I love to tell stories and talk about books, movies, series, and music.

All I ask of a Superhero

A couple of people took me to task for my take on Iron Man 2. I like to think of myself as a simple man, but maybe that isn't true anymore.

Rethinking my expectations

I started reading comics as a kid. Batman, Green Lantern, The Hulk, and the X-men were some of my favorites. Growing up, superheroes were pure escapism. Granted some of the characters had family problems, personal problems, and even Batman lost a Robin, but the stories were all larger than life.

Superhero flicks are still larger than life, but they have more "realistic problems."

Batman is a male Paris Hilton who fights crime.

Peter Parker wouldn't know what to do with the girl if he got her.

Tony Stark is rotting away from a self-inflicted disease + he is a male Paris Hilton who doesn't fight crime, he is bringing about world peace.

Holding out for a Hero!

Ok, everyone knows that I am a huge Bonnie Tyler fan, but every time I watch one of these movies, I hear her in the back of my head:

Where have all the good men gone
And where are all the gods?
Where's the street-wise Hercules
To fight the rising odds?
Isn't there a white knight upon a fiery steed?
Late at night I toss and turn and dream
of what I need

I need a hero
I'm holding out for a hero 'til the end of the night
He's gotta be strong
And he's gotta be fast
And he's gotta be fresh from the fight
I need a hero
I'm holding out for a hero 'til the morning light
He's gotta be sure
And it's gotta be soon
And he's gotta be larger than life

I want a superhero who is, well a hero. They don't have to be perfect, and well they can have basic human flaws, but at the end of the day, they need to be a hero!

Returning to Iron Man 2, I thought Whiplash made a good case against the Stark family, and Tony just acted like the spoiled brat Whiplash thought he was. I actually found myself wanting Whiplash to win. I can't stand whiny, self-important bitches, and that is all I saw in Tony. His womanizing turned me off, and his self-pity made me roll my eyes. He dug his own grave, and I was ready to see him lay in it.

Escapism and Realism

I think my biggest issue with the film is that I was really looking for some pure escapism from the movie. That is what I look for in a superhero movie.

I watch a superhero for action, mystery, and pure escapism. Watching a super hero struggle with illness was outside the realm of what I wanted to see, especially with people in my life actually struggling with various illnesses that do not have a magical deus ex machina serum. It felt like salt in the wound.

The illness reminded me of my real life, and the magic cure just upset me. I went to see a movie where a superhero and super-villain tangled with each other until the film climaxed in a super-mega-ultra battle.

The movie, like all (not so) superhero movies since Batman Begins, opened with scenes of stark realism... but it is a superhero movie!! Superheroes just aren't realistic, and films cannot serve two masters.

I am not sure exactly when escapism became a bad word, but my life is complicated enough. Sometimes I just want to walk into a dark cave and forget about my real life for a couple of hours. It might sound petty, but that is it.

I want a great, escapist spectacle from time to time, but more than anything, I want filmmakers to be honest with me and with their material. If the movie is not an action movie, don't tell me it is. If the movie is not a smart, well written think piece, be good with that. Just don't pretend one is the other, and stop telling yourself you can be both at the same time.

A half-assed story with half-assed action is just a half-assed movie. Two half-assed jobs never make a whole.

I know some of you liked the movie. Great! I wish I was one of you. Keep having fun, and sharing. It is good to hear contrary opinions. Just remember, we don't have to love the same things, we just need to help each other find more things we can all enjoy.

The Fan Spectrum

February last year, I posted for the first time about the Three Types of SF Fans. Reactions were mixed. I have thought about it a lot, and I have realized that their are not really three types of SF fans, these are actually parts of a spectrum.

Fans of the Spectacle

Fans who are interested in action and special effects, typically of Space Opera, Disaster/Monster/Action Movies, usually watches movies, some series, rarely reads the books.

These fans are on the coldest end of the spectrum. They are only interested in being entertained, and simply do not think too much about what they are watching. Think about your friends who thought the Matrix was just a great action movie with cool special effects. You know the ones who didn't see all the questions about the nature of reality and how we perceive it. They are fans of spectacle.

The studios have geared their films more towards this type of fan because there are more of them and they are easier to please.

Admit it though, we all started here. We may have been young, but each and every one of us first got into Speculative Fiction be we enjoyed the spectacle. For me, it was dragons and vampires.

This is the first stage of development of every fan. Our job is to move more people into the second and third phase.

Fans of the Specifics

Fans who are interested in the nitty-gritty details and their accuracy or consistency.Typically of Hard Scifi, Military Scifi, and High Fantasy, usually reads the books, watches the series, and nit-picks the movies

For many Scifi fans, this shift happened with Star Trek or Star Wars. For Fantasy Fans, it is usually Lord of the Rings, and for Horror Fans it was either The Vampire Chronicles or Mayfair Witches by Anne Rice or Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Many fan bases stagnate here and die off. The Studios have started blaming continuity and consistency for their financial short comings, thus the spate of remakes, reboots, and the dread re-imaginings that crop up every year.

Yes, it is easier to write a story when you don't have to worry about consistency or continuity, but they are not better stories. They are just different.

To move a fan from Spectacle to Specifics, find something in a setting or character they like, and talk to them about it. Encourage them to grow in their fascination, and soon they will delve into the setting more fully, and the spectral shift will happen.

Fans of the Story

Fans who are interested in the story, the characters, and Typically Soft Scifi and Sociological Fantasy, usually reads or watches the series, and watches the movies.

For Fans of the Specifics, the changes George Lucas made to the original Star Wars Trilogy and the prequels went too far. Fans of the Story were able to see how these changes improved and tightened the narrative.

Fans of the Story are few in numbers, but they are the heart blood of fandom. They write/perform the filk, the fan fiction, and fanfilms. They make the fan art, run the conventions, and strive to keep SF on the straight and narrow.

It isn't easy to move from being a fan of Specifics to a fan of Story. For this shift to happen, the fan has to see the complete series as a seamless whole. They have to learn how to see past the trees to the forest. There is no easy way to happen or to bring this about.

When it does happen, it is like magic. Most of us have had this shift happen for at least one franchise. Think about the one series that is closest to your heart. The one you seek out every little tidbit of information about. For that story, you are a fan of the Story.

Spectral Shift

It is not easy to ask people to make these shifts, or to help other move through the spectrum, but it is vital if fan culture has any chance of surviving. So for the next thirty days:

Introduce your friends to filk.

Have a movie night at your house and show a fanfilm.

Start a role playing group and uses your favorite setting.

Start having friends over to watch your favorite shows.

Help just one person find a new series, book, or movie that they will fall head or heels in love with.

What makes a fan a fan?

Eoghann Irving has posted an interesting rebuttal to my post, Fandom v The Scifi Channel, where he tackles the question What makes a fan? The critique of my position is an interesting one, and I have to say, I agree with his assertion that it sounds like I am trying to say that fans define themselves by their interest in SF.

While there are some who have adopted the fan culture for themselves, cultural adoption is not a requirement to be a fan.

What is a Fan?

We are fans.

We love music, stories, characters, settings, and images.
We know about what we love.
We participate in what we love.
We support what we love.
What we love supports us.

Fans are special. We are more than just enthusiasts who enjoy a piece of work, fans connect with the work. We feel it.

Fans love

Fans share a bond with the works they love and with one another. Fans' passion is infectious, spreading the the works they love to others.

The love of a fan is a blessing to a responsible creator, but it is a curse to the reckless.

Farscape fans kept the series alive despite the many attempts by the network to cancel it.

Fans Know

Anyone can quote Star Trek or Star Wars because many of the aphorisms have gone mainstream, but a Star Wars Fan knows who Ulic Qel-Droma and Exar Kun are. They have become such an important part of the Saga. They know the Chewbacca died on Sernpidal during the Yuuzhan Vong war trying to save Han Solo's youngest son.

Fandom is not defined by obscure knowledge. On the contrary, a fans love for a franchise causes them to seek out everything they can from that franchise. We read the books and watch the OVAs. A fan remembers the details and more often than not knows the minutia.

Fans participate

Fans create and enjoy filk, fanfiction, fan films, fan art, costumes and conventions. We often play role playing games, video games and MMOs in the settings we love.

Fan participation is the most commonly mocked aspects of SF fandom. No one mocks a music fan's attendance of a concert or a sport fan attending a game. They don't even mock the wearing of band shirts or sports jerseys, or fantasy football or rock and roll camp. These are not different from conventions, or filk, or role playing, or cosplay.

Fans support

Fans support what we love. We buy the books, DVDs, and games.

This is where modern fandom is in the most trouble. The studios and publishers have not offered fans the options they want for media they consume. DRM (digital rights management) and region codes restrict how and where media can me viewed.

International fans often have few options for obtaining media other than piracy.

Media companies have to listen to the fans and make media available in as many ways as possible to they do not drive money away. They also must learn that they are not owners of their franchises, they are caretakers and conservators. The tighter they hold on to outdated and outmoded concepts of ownership, the smaller market they will have and the most desperate they will become.

What we love supports us.

Fans often gather insight and inspiration from the franchises they love. In moments of fear, I have found myself reciting the Bene Geseret prayer from Dune. It is also not uncommon for fans to quote dialogue to make a point.

Dear Hollywood, treat Comics like Books

This is just a quick note to ask a little favor from you and all of your brilliant writers, directors and producers. If you could, please start treating Comics like books.
I know this might come as a surprise to many of you, but comics are not just collections of pretty pictures of men and women in tights. They have stories, characters and depth. Well not all of them. Some of them are pretty bad, but like novels, there are good ones. There are some that are classic.

I know what I am suggesting is radical. I know that none of you have ever thought about mining stories for sources of screenplays but they are there. Consider V for Vendetta, Sin City and the forthcoming Watchmen films, you found your stories there even though they do not have any big names. I really hope you can get over need to recreate beloved characters, telling stories about them that do not make sense at all.

Was Dumbledore Gay?

I am still looking for other conformations of this but the Harry Potter Automatic News Agregator is reporting that at her reading in New York, J K Rowling revealed that Albus Dumbledore was gay and that his first love was the dark wizard Grindelwald.

Answering a question ... at tonight's book reading at Carnegie Hall ... JK Rowling said she "always thought Dumbledore was gay" and that he originally fell in love with the wizard Grindelwald.

Rowling also said she had read through Steve Kloves' script for the movie adaptation of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and corrected a passage in which Dumbledore was reminiscing about past loves by crossing it out and scrawling "Dumbledore is gay" over it.

Upon hearing her response, a hush fell over the audience in attendence [sic] and then applause exploded (HPANA).

I am classifying this in the realm of hearsay for the moment, and will keep and eye out for other sources of the story. But if this is true, it would really beg the question as to what a gay character in fiction has to do to prove their queerness. Should a writer have to make the character's sexuality evident in the story if it has nothing to do with the plot? Personally, I have written numerous gay characters that have never had an opportunity to reveal their sexuality in the story. Does that make them any more or less gay? It is an interesting question.

As for Dumbledore, I am on the fence. I can see it from a certain point of view, and it would explain some things about the way he was written, but I am not trumpeting this until I have a bit more concrete sourcing. I just thought I would pass it along.